


Don't die on me

by Ms_Julius



Series: Tumblr Prompts (SINF) [5]
Category: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 07:37:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15747240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ms_Julius/pseuds/Ms_Julius
Summary: An alternative version of the scene between Dee and Marethyu once Dee’s immortality is withdrawn.





	Don't die on me

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt by Tumblr user @ashery24.

The lights above him had started to fade, and he was okay with it.

He had lived a successful life, or at least as close to one than he could ever manage. Even if his actions were proven wrong by those coming after him, at the time he had been sure his efforts were for the wellbeing of the world. Everything he had done, every sacrifice he had made, was for the world around him. His own passions and his thirst for knowledge, all that had become secondary for him over the years.

It had all been for them.

And he couldn’t bring himself to regret that.

Those twinkling sparks up high seemed so serene to him now. Against the dark night sky they shined brightly, bestowing their fine glow onto the damp blanket of grass below, dancing alongside of the small drops of dew hanging at the tips of the straws. He knew he was looking up at the stars, but his flickering vision didn’t allow him to enjoy them anymore. A pity. He had always enjoyed gazing to the heavens.

“Did I give you permission to rest yet, doctor?”

The soft voice pierced through the silence, causing Dee to wince when a tall shadow fell upon him. He couldn’t see clearly, but he was fairly certain the shape looking down at him was a man, one he had seen before. The sound of his muffled voice was too familiar to him, something he should have recognized as soon as he heard it, but for some reason he couldn’t remember where they’d previously met. Was his fading mind playing tricks on him on its last moments?

The silhouette bent down beside him, pressing a gentle hand onto his shoulder. Dee could feel the tension bleeding out from him, the muscles beneath the tender touch easing and forcing a low groan from his lips. It was getting colder now that the sun had sunken below the horizon, but even with the frigid gush of wind swirling around them, the hand on him remained warm and pleasant, grounding him.

Moving his hand slowly, the man spoke out: “I did see this happening, but I suppose there is really no way to prepare yourself for it, huh? When we first met during this timeline, I’d never thought you would end up like this, John.”

Dee’s eyes snapped widely open. “How do you know -”

“Your name?” The man sighed, settling on his knees and with a surprising amount of strength, wrapped his arms around Dee’s waist and hoisted him up against the rough fabric of his robe. “Of course I know you, doctor John Dee. How couldn’t I? After all, you made me what I am now.”

The spinning in his head was intensifying, and for a moment Dee was worried he might actually throw up on the man holding him. He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry and he ended up coughing so fiercely that the hands around him had to tighten their grip in order for him to stay in place. It took a long time for him to make the shuddering stop, and by then the sky had darkened completely, leaving them into what felt like a black void, lacking sound and sight.

“I have no idea what you mean,” Dee said, coughing some more as the stern arms pulled him upwards. “But I have the strangest feeling I should know you.” Without bothering to fight it, he let his head slump against the veiled shoulder.

The hood covering the man’s face shifted with a tug of a metallic hook, and with his poor vision, for the first time Dee got a glimpse of the eyes staring intensely at his own.

Realisation hit him.

“Josh? But why -” A fit of convulsions broke off his words, and the choking sensation in his chest grew immensely stronger. He couldn’t talk for long, the gasps of air interrupting his speech every time he tried to speak out. He knew what was happening, his body finally deciding to give up, but it did nothing to stifle the ice cold panic steadily rising in his mind. His earlier calm resolve was melting away as he desperately attempted to search the blue eyes on top of him.

He couldn’t die like this. If the man before him was truly Josh, in this state of time, who had offered him the sweater a few minutes ago?

The metal hook coming down against his cheek startled him. “Are you still with me, John?”

The gasping doctor managed a small nod, although it came with a cost of a yet another muscle spasm. “Good, don’t die on me now.” The arms surrounding him picked his shaking body up, pressing it firmly to the broad chest. “We still have work to do.”

While struggling to breath, Dee used his last ounce of aura to help him mumble out: “I w-wasn’t aware I needed your consent to kick the bucket.”

A hacking laughter rang through the field, leaving traces of a teasing smirk on hook-handed man’s face. “What if I’ll say please?” The tone was as taunting as the grin going along it.

This made no sense, none of it.

Dee glanced up at the sincere blue orbs, the tint of mischievous gleaming in them.

Were these the same blue eyes that had first looked at him all those days ago in San Francisco? Was this the same young man whose awakening he had arranged in the catacombs of Paris?

The Josh he’d known would have never said please to him.

As the hooded man began to carry him across the grassland, over to the glowing city far beyond Dee’s field of vision, the English magician shut his eyes and focused on the new pieces of puzzle presented to him by his saviour.  

He had to know.

Before his aging frame would crumble to dust, he needed to know.


End file.
